Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced the grant funding at a press conference in Braintree, surrounded by local leaders and sixth-grade students.

Zane Razzaq The Patriot Ledger

BRAINTREE -- Ninety percent of all adults struggling with addiction started using when they were under the age of 18.

Noting that most people experience their first exposure to drugs when they are teenagers, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is distributing $700,000 statewide to help fund substance abuse prevention initiatives. The recipient communities include Braintree, Weymouth, Hull and Norwell.

The initiative is part of the state’s ongoing battle against the opioid crisis, and will fund two years of prevention programming.

Opioid-related deaths were more than four times higher in 2015 than in 2000 in Massachusetts, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Speaking Monday at Braintree’s South Middle School, Healey emphasized the need for more education and called the crisis a “top issue” for Massachusetts.

“We need to make sure people are educated so they’re not caught off-guard,” she said. “...There are too many stories where people can’t believe what happened to them.”

Braintree Mayor Joseph Sullivan said state officials cannot make significant progress on fighting opioid addiction without help from families in the community.

“We need each family to understand the magnitude,” Sullivan said. “We can only do so much as a community. ...We can’t beat this without you.”

The funding will primarily target students in grades 5 through 8.

“We’re particularly focused on students in middle school, and that’s because the sooner we get young people involved, the better,” Healey said.

“It incorporated art and a lot of creative activity,” Emma said, referencing the skits and television programming the students watched in class. “So it wasn’t just memorizing things, which was helpful for me.”

State Rep. Mark Cusack, D-Braintree, also noted that educational programs help de-stigmatize the issue.

“We need to fight the stigma and make sure people are not ashamed to look for help,” Cusack said.

Young people are particularly vulnerable to substance abuse. From 2013 to 2014, opioid-related deaths accounted for more than a quarter of all fatalities in the 18-to-24 age group, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Annie Martin, a Braintree High School student and vice president of the school’s chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions, said some students don’t realize that they could be at risk of drug addiction.

“No one’s invincible,” Martin said. “It can happen to anyone.”

Healey said preventive work can make a difference, despite the rise in opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts.